In the depths of a double-dip recession, one sector of our economy is in
world-beating good health: comedy.

Perhaps it was inevitable. When the world seems to be falling apart, people
need to laugh even more than usual.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which begins today, is the clearest barometer
of this success story. When a Cambridge Footlights troupe including Emma
Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Tony Slattery won the first Perrier
award in 1981, comedy at the Fringe was a niche pursuit. It could not be
more different now.